apple juice

You could say I’m extremely upset about this:
Twins reliever Juan Rincon suspended

For years, Twins players have chuckled at assertions that someone on their team — known for pitching, defense and lack of power hitting — could be using performance-enhancing drugs. One of them, outfielder Torii Hunter, was floored by the news.

“I feel bad because I know [Rincon],” Hunter said, “but I don’t know what is going on and I have to get the details. … We have to get steroids out of the game. I can’t believe that it may be one of my teammates, but we’ll see.”

Twins closer Joe Nathan, who has become good friends with Rincon, said the news was hard to believe. “I know what kind of guy he is,” he said.

It’s unclear when the appeal process will take place, or what the chances are that Rincon’s name will be cleared. But, as of now, Rincon has become a focal point in the league’s efforts to rid the game of steroids.

“He’s crushed because baseball is his entire life,” Setlik said. “He loves the Twins, and he loves his teammates and he’s worked nine years to build his reputation.”

I’m willing to wait until this is fleshed out to pass judgement, because obivously I want to believe that the Twins were somehow special. But man, doesn’t this just destroy our image? I’m probably in denial and being naive. I think if it’s true, and Rincon took steriods, I hope he will come out today during his press conference and just straight admit it. I can hope, right? I wish the whole team would say, look, test us all. But that’s not going to happen.

Grr….

Absolutely, Power Corrupts

No, not an article about Tom Delay. (I’m soooo funnny)

Mark Teahen is no exception. This odd swing of his — the reason he’s a good hitter but not a power hitter — has a rich provenance. There was nothing to do in Yucaipa except play baseball — or, at any rate, nothing else he wanted to do. Every afternoon he and his two brothers would go out into the backyard for a game of Wiffle ball. Right field — the natural power zone for a left hander like Teahen — ended at the back of the house. If you hit the ball on the roof, it got stuck in the gutter, so the boys declared what would have normally been a home run an out. It was left field, a low brick wall, that tempted the hitter. Reach out over the plate and serve the ball into left field, and you had yourself a home run. Mark and his older brother Matt, both lefties, developed an extreme tendency to go the other way, to try to hit the ball over the left-field wall. Only his younger brother, Mick, the lone righty, learned to pull the ball and hit with power.

A great article about two baseball players with different swings and skills in the midst of steriods and the rise of the power hitter in Major League Baseball.

It’s the paragraph I quoted that I like the most, though. It reminds me of playing baseball with my brother and our friends in the various front and backyards of our hometown. You could never pull it because that meant you would lose the ball in the woods, and whatever you do, don’t miss! A miss meant a mark on the garage door and an angry parent!

So, (cue music) although I wasn’t ever a great baseball player, it’s funny how those things shape you, your swing, your skills. I didn’t strike out too much, and I liked slapping line drives where people weren’t standing. I never hit a homerun at any level of baseball. But the one time I really crushed it, I just stood there like and idiot and watched it… “where the heck did that come from?” It bounced off the wall in left center and I only got a single because I only took 2 steps out of the batters box before I stopped to watch. Oh well!

Awesome, awesome, awesome!

Twins, Hennepin County have stadium deal.

Under the terms of the plan to be unveiled at a Metrodome press conference Monday, the Twins and the county would build a $360 million, 42,000-seat open-air stadium. The site is near the confluence of Interstate Hwy. 394, the end of the Hiawatha Light Rail line and the proposed Northstar commuter rail in downtown Minneapolis.

Now I REALLY want to live closer to the light rail line…

Pitchers and Catchers reported on Sunday, an event that always turns my attention towards spring. Good thing we got 4 inches of snow yesterday.

It does look nice and wintry outside now, a snowy blanket covering everything. But I know in the back of my mind that there are Pitchers and Catchers warming up, tossing batting practice, chewing bubble gum (insert romantic baseball feelings here).

Have you ever tried to answer the question “What is your favorite season?” It’s an underrated question. I think the answer for me is as follows:

• November 15th – (Whatever day Pitchers and Catchers Report, usually about Feb 20th) – Winter
• Pitchers and Catchers until Opening Day – Spring
• Opening day until about August 14th (whatever night happens to be the one where it is 95% humidity and 84 degrees at 10:00pm) – Summer
• August 14th until November 14th – Fall

So I guess I like all the seasons. Which is one good thing about living in Minnesota: All 4 seasons are present and accounted for.

But this was going to be about baseball! I’m even more excited than usual for the Twins season this year. Hopefully we will see a full season of Joe Mauer. Justin Morneau will hopefully see a full season as well. The pitching staff is solid, and if Joe Mays pitches well, better than last year.

This will be my first season back in Minneapolis. I probably won’t have season tickets this year, but the dream is still alive. I’m hoping to make it to about 20 games this summer. (Maybe I’ll get the voucher tickets?)

Also, I’ve begun research for CBaO BBL ’05. The draft is fast approaching!

If we could only get a new stadium.

It’s a sad day for Twins fans. Corey Koskie signed a 3-year contract with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Normally I wouldn’t get all wispy-eyed about multi-millionaire baseball players changing teams, and given the Twins finances, it’s basically a fact of life that your favorite players, if they are good, will eventually leave for greener pastures.

But losing Koskie really sucks. Baseball euphemisms can be tossed about, how he was a clubhouse leader, ‘backbone’ of the team, etc. Maybe I’m naive about baseball players being a part of the community, but when Koskie does things like raise money for the homeless by sleeping outside in the winter, he adds to our unique Minnesota feeling.

Maybe people who have never lived here just won’t get it… but Koskie seemed Minnesotan to everyone.

Well, Corey, the baseball fans of Minnesota will miss you…

I’m so happy the Lakers lost.

I don’t even follow basketball, but I hate the Lakers. I wish the T-Wolves could have won, but I think this is the next best thing.

The Twins need an outdoor stadium. We went to a Giants game yesterday. SBC Park is beautiful. The sun was out, a nice breeze blowing out to center. (Where we were) The only problem with the game was that the Marlins walked Bonds 4 TIMES!!!. So much for entertaining the fans. They quoted 41,000 of them. The atmosphere was excellent. I hope they can do something like this in Minneapolis.